It would probably surprise many people to learn that the PRT's Master/Stranger Protocols actually had levels of severity.
There were, after all, different levels of Master. Some - like Teacher or Heartbreaker - were insidious, and all encompassing. Powers that not only took control of a person but basically erased who they were entirely in order to facilitate that control, leaving behind only a shell of a human being behind as cover.
Others were much more manageable or at least, survivable. Most Master powers that affected humans had well defined limits and a fairly narrow focus when they werent world shattering threats. This meant that the screening process for them was fairly quick, at least, as quick as anything managed by a beuracracy could be.
"Ethan Howell. Twenty Seven. Yes I'm certain I'm not a projection." Assault rattled off for the fifth time in the last twenty four hours. It was a titanic effort of will for him not to make a joke or be flippant when giving the responses. Usually he wouldn't care - he'd be as irreverent as he wanted, to whoever he wanted, whenever he wanted. Triumvirate in town? Meh. Legend could take a joke, and Eidolon could use a laugh.
Unfortunately, any answer that deviated even slightly from the entirely serious list of things he'd answered the last four times he'd undergone this examination would be seen as a sign that he had indeed been Mastered.
Not for the first time since being locked in his cushy low level containment cell, he wondered about the girl.
It was pretty obvious that she was some kind of Master - the guy with the weird hair had made that pretty clear just by opening his mouth. But did that make her a villain? Ethan wasn't quite sure. He hadn't been allowed to participate in the investigation into her circumstances, mostly due to the speed with which Armsmaster had seen him rammed into M/S containment once the crisis had passed, but he didn't regret it.
Ethan wasn't stupid. He could see a trigger event when someone shoved it right in front of him, and being trapped and dying sounded like it fit the bill. He wasn't sure if the girl was dying or just wounded, but one look at the pale form Zaraki had been holding was enough to convince him that she was in a bad way no matter how you looked at it.
It just sucked that the guy the girl had decided to Master into helping her had to be such a freaking wrecking ball.
Ethan had seen the way the guy had basically plucked Velocity out of the air with a kick. The Protectorate ENE had exactly two speedsters capable of making a run on a guy with that kind of power, and he was damned if he was going to let his wife get punted across the city just because Armsmaster needed to show a new Parahuman his place.
"All right, Assault - you're cleared for now. Your going to need to wear this for a few days so we can track you though." The lab technician said finally, pulling Ethan from his musings. He was holding up one of the anklets the PRT used to track it's more problematic members and holding it out gingerly towards him.
"Hm. Not bad. It'll bring out my eyes." Assault chuckled, grabbing and slapping the thing on his ankle without complaint.
As an ex-villain, it wasn't the first time he'd worn one after all.
"The Director wants you to head up to the debrief, she's not happy." The tech continued apologetically, and Assault could only snort.
When was Piggot ever happy?
"Someone explain to me why the hell it looks like someone drove a building through the streets for an hour? Why the Cape who endangered one of my Wards was allowed to just walk away?" The Director said testily, not bothering to wait for everyone to even finish sitting down before unleashing her considerable ire on them.
Most of them had the good grace to at least look chagrined, with Assault and Battery sharing uncomfortable glances with each other before turning towards Miss Militia and Velocity, like school children asking their friends for the correct answer and all of them coming up sadly lacking.
Armsmaster, of course, did not.
"At approximately 14:30 yesterday, we began receiving reports that the Parahuman designated Line Drive was rampaging through the city, leaving untold collateral damage in his wake. At 14:34 I-"
"Hey hang on, Line Drive? Like from football?" Assault chimed in, cutting off Armsmasters no doubt long winded and extremely meticulous report. It was all she could do not to rub her temples in frustration at the immediate headache the mere sound of the idiots voice caused her.
But she couldn't, because that would let him know he was getting to her. Ever a hazard while Parahumans were involved.
"Most of the damage he caused was merely a side effect of his Mover power. He departed from Winslow in a straight line until we stopped him. It seemed appropriate." Armsmaster answered flatly.
"No I get the logic, I just didn't think you knew anything about sports." Assault answered with a guffaw. He immediately jolted as Battery no doubt kicked him under the table, and she could see Velocity restraining a chuckle of his own before she turned a baleful glare on him.
God damn children the lot of them.
"If you're all quite done?" She said, cutting everyone else off with the sheer frigidness of her voice.
"Line Drive. Tell me about him. And don't think I'm moving past my original question Assault. Theres already phone footage surfacing of you seemingly surrendering to him. Stay here after the meeting." She said waspishly, taking a perverse sense of satisfaction at the expression on Assaults face at her assertion.
"Ehem. I believe his primary power is some kind of subjective gravity or mass manipulation. If he can rapidly change himself from super heavy to ultra light, it would explain the shockwave he generates when he moves, as well as the Shaker power he displayed during our confrontation." Armsmaster said, jumping immediately back to the topic at hand.
"I dunno boss, feels like a stretch. He was kinda glowing bright yellow too." Assault pointed out.
"Maybe it's a by product of high power usage? No power is as simple as 'gravity control' there has to be more to it." Velocity offered.
"I'm... not sure he was controlling gravity." Miss Militia said pensively, earning a slightly irked expression from Armsmaster for disagreeing with him - not that anyone but Emily would notice.
"Explain." She said flatly. Generally she didn't trust Parahumans, but if she was absolutely forced to, she'd like to think she could put her faith in Miss Militia. Of all the Parahumans she had met, the woman seemed the least overtly screwed up, and, dare she say, even normal.
She was also a hell of a soldier though so, maybe Emily was just biased.
"I was set up on a nearby rooftop before we engaged and the way he moved... if his power was just Gravity Control I don't think he'd be able to navigate at the speeds he was moving. He'd have slammed into a wall long before we caught up with him - but he didn't." Miss Militia explained, shooting a look towards Velocity.
Emily frowned but acknowledged the point. Then decided to move on before the room devolved into a PHO worthy debate over the new Capes powers. The fact of the matter was, they just didn't have enough data to make accurate guesses. The best they could do was accept that he could do what he did and leave the exact mechanics for someone else to figure out.
For now anyway.
"And the girl?" She asked, bluntly changing topics.
"Taylor Hebert, Age 15, goes to Winslow in the same year as Shadow Stalker. I asked Stalker what she knew of her when she arrived at the rig today and she was equal parts dismissive and evasive, claiming no knowledge of her situation." Armsmaster rattled off once more with a frown.
"She was seen to by Panacea as soon as she got done healing her sister. Multiple abrasions consistent with someone trying to burrow through rock using their fingers, suffering from toxic shock and just on the edge of organ failure when Panacea saw to her." He continued, wincing slightly.
Because of course she couldn't just have a Master who ate babies and gave her justification to get a kill order on her. No, she had to be sympathetic.
"What are the chances this is a trigger event then?" She said wearily.
"Fairly high. We suspect she might be a power granting Trump in a similar vein to Teacher. Line Drive literally did not exist until today. Nothing Dragon or I can find indicates he had powers before this. Taken at face value, she appears to be able to grant powers to someone that affect their personality at the expense of making them think they're a projection."
Emily considered that for a second. If Line Drive was anything to go by, the girl might be some kind of strange mix between Othalla and Eidolon. Unfortunately, there was no way she could charge the girl for something that happened during her Trigger event. Still, she couldn't just allow a threat like that free reign. Line Drive might have caused enough of a scene that no one would notice her for a while, but eventually someone else would put the pieces together, and the last thing she needed was one of the gangs having a source of disposable Parahumans.
"I'm assigning Line Drive a threat rating of Brute 7 Shaker 8, and the girl a Master 4 Trump 8." She decided eventually, leaving the girls Master rating low until she could determine her leanings. If she joined the PRT the Master rating would probably disappear entirely. If not well... no one liked a high level Master. They were a problem that tended to solve itself in places like Brockton Bay.
"Someone contact the Heberts. I want that girl in the Wards, no matter what. Meeting adjourned. Assault. Sit down." She said, growling that part as she saw the red clad hero attempt to leave with his wife.
Sometimes, her job felt like babysitting more than anything else.